Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

The Houston Zoo held a Bear Awareness Day this weekend, and as a volunteer there, I signed up for a shift at one of the tables for the event. The purpose of the event was to make Texans aware that Black Bears are starting to migrate into East Texas, and homeowners, hikers, and campers alike should take certain precautions for their safety, and for the safety of the bears.

However, being the nerd that I am, not even 5 minutes after arriving at the Bear Awareness Day tables, I couldn’t help but think of NBC’s The Office and the scene where Jim imitates Dwight making the comments “Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica”  and “Bears eat beets. Two statements that are generally instantly recognizable by The Office fans. If you haven’t seen this before, or would like to see it again, here’s a clip: 

Then I saw the tray the Houston Zoo keepers had out to show what kind food the Houston Zoo feeds all of its bears in residence. As it turns out, bears are known to have a sweet tooth, (which explains Pooh and his hunny).

 

But what I discovered from talking to the bear keepers, was that the bears are fed mostly produce, and about a cup of biscuits a day, which can be seen in the picture on the left. Most bears are also given fish every other day or so, and are also given honey as  a treat.

After hearing and seeing this I had two thoughts.

My first thought was that these bears eat so much healthier than the average person, and while the average person should probably be eating as many, or almost as many fruits and vegetables on this tray daily, most people shy away from them. And if people have a sweet tooth, they’ll eat candies, cookies, and cakes, many of which are filled with preservatives and high fructose corn syrup, which is equivalent to a highly refined unnatural sugar. 

So take it from the bears, if you have a sweet tooth, try switching out candy with fruit, or refined sugar with all natural honey, or agave nectar. You will be amazed at the difference between eating natural simple sugars found in fruits and vegetables and honey. And while any types of sugars in excess are bad for you, you’re much better off eating too much apple or too much honey, than too much cake or candy.

So what was my second thought you ask?  Bears DO eat beets. Or at least in the zoo they do. This thought of course initiated a domino effect of considering all relationships between bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica. I had made the connection between bears and beets, but what about bears and Battlestar Galactica? Then I remembered a PETA campaign with Jamie Bamber (who portrays Lee Adama in BSG) and BAM!

Small world, no? Then I thought about it some more (because two hours volunteering can sometimes offer time to think). Bears, Beets and Battlestar Galactica are a trifecta of sorts, so is there any what that all three are connected? And then I impressed myself with my own creative and analytical abilities which could only be fueled by organic foods:

If you modify “beets” to “beats”, then yes, Bears, Beats and Battlestar Galactica are inseparable, because the composer for the re-imagined series of Battlestar Galactica is indeed named Bear McCreary.

Crazy, I know. But it still gets better. Every five years, there is an anniversary convention to celebrate Battlestar Galactica in Houston (where I just so happen to live), and this year, Galacticon 3 will be held in the George R. Brown Convention center in Houston, Texas. (For more information click here). ANNNNDDDDD... one of the panels that will be held is actually called “BearTrek: Bear, Bears & Battlestar, a panel hosted by Shawn O'Donnell" (full description can be found here). Needless to say, I will be in attendance.

So just remember, even if you have a bear-sized sweet tooth, steps towards a healthier lifestyle, such as replacing refined sweets with fruits and refined sugars with natural sweeteners like honey, agave nectar and stevia can be quite simple. But simple, doesn’t always mean easy, so when you debate whether you should give up and give in to refined sweets when a healthy alternative is available, take a few seconds and ask yourself: 

Did the remaining members of the crew of Battlestar Galactica ever give up in their fight for survival and their search for Earth? 

No, they did not. 

So say we all.

Welcome!

Hi there!

Welcome to Holistic Health Nerd, where Health, Happiness and Nerdom unite! 

So what’s going on here? How does this work? 

As a nerd, I have always valued my brain and what I put in it (high-quality sci-fi material of course!). In a nutshell: I love my brain; and I want it to last forever while functioning at warp speed. A couple of years ago, I discovered the world of holistic health. And even while playing Scully to most holistic health Mulders, I was won-over by some of several holistic principles, theories and beliefs. I have also discovered that if you put some of this stuff together, something amazing happens: an increase and happiness and well-being. And Chief, you have no idea what that really means until you experience it for yourself. Like Batman? Who doesn’t? Want to FEEL as great as Batman? Now we’re talking.

Why Holistic Health and Sci-Fi Nerdom? 

Let’s just say I’m a fan of both worlds, and almost everything I’m obsessed with falls into one of these two categories. And while many people normally wouldn’t associate these traditionally separate realms, I can’t help but interpret and associate life and holistic health principles into sci-fi concepts with my nerd brain. For example, take the two pictures below. Most people look at life like this:

But like Dr. Ian Malcom suggests in Jurassic Park “Life finds a way...”. I interpret this more  as: “Life finds a way to make things much more complicated.” Such as transforming visiting a theme park into visiting a theme park while running for your life from dinosaurs. Smart ones.  And consequently, I view life in a more entropic and wibbly wobbly timey-wimey perspective as is suggested by the Doctor Who timeline:

And of course, as a nerd (a Whovian in particular), this makes complete sense, maybe even more sense than the first timeline. In a way, I think it’s more real. I’m pretty sure, to me, at least, my life seems more like a Doctor Who episode than what theoretically happens...

I have the same outlook on health. Most people would probably say that health comes from working out, and eating right, and well, that’s it. They would also argue probably a simple theoretical formula: start off healthy, eat well, work out to train or keep off weight = BAM! Great Health! They would also probably say great health and mental well being can be explained by boiling down things to this: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (not to knock Maslow, he’s awesome)

However, in my opinion there’s a couple of kinks in all this normal timeline business, and the generally accepted outlook... What if you didn’t start off healthy?  What if what society has determined as healthy and nutritious, well, really isn’t? Where’s the mental, spiritual, or awareness of self aspects of things? And what, exactly does Maslow’s hierarchy look like on the ground level? For analyzing someone else Maslow’s got it dead on. But when I’m looking at my own life, what does it all mean?

From my experience, holistic health on the ground level, looks a little more like this:

Where overall and holistic health both results from and has impact on  ALL of  its components. This concept also happens to cause a completely reinforcing cycle which can be shown in the really cool diagram above that my nerd brain translates into this:

Or, if you’re not so familiar with the Winchester brothers.  Maybe this:

***Disclaimer: Although holistic health is a powerful force, there is no direct proof that it can protect one from demonic possessions or cylons.***

So what’s in it for me?

Well Maslow got it right when he said that man is a social animal. 

And this is can be seen directly in nerd behavior and obsessions with cons.

However, I have yet to find a subset of nerds that are as obsessed with and enthusiastic about holistic health as I am, which is not to say they don’t exist, just that we haven’t declared ourselves yet.  So like Klaus from TVD (except without the vampire status, but as an original none the less), in the absence of a “perfect” family, I hope to create my own hybrids who care about their holistic health just as much as they obsess over all things in their respective nerd realms. Look what nerds have done around the world to show their love and fandom. Now imagine what they could do for themselves, and the universe if they could unite in taking an interest in themselves, both in mind and body. And they’d also get to feel like Batman. All the time.

So happy reading, nerd on, and may the force of holistic health be with you!

Allons-y!

Sama